Laugh all you want: Goydos leads TPC

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Here's a serious question about a not-so-serious guy who isn't so wrapped up in his own ego to make light of himself.

Actually, it's not so much that self-described journeyman Paul Goydos pokes fun at the guy in the mirror. It's not a light jab, it's a roundhouse haymaker.

Paul Goydos can tell a good joke -- and he's not half-bad on the course, either. (AP)

So, is it considered self-deprecation when the guy in question doesn't have much of a resume to begin with, when he goes 11 years between his two victories, then goes almost a year without another top-25 finish?

Maybe he's just being brutally honest.

The former substitute schoolteacher admitted that he was "pretty much" shocked that he holds the 54-hole lead at the Players Championship -- which represents a career first entering the final round -- and matches the sentiment of practically everybody eyeballing his improbable name atop the leaderboard.

"You have to go by track record," said Goydos, a wisecracking 43-year-old. "And mine stinks."

Not just on the TPC Sawgrass track, either. True enough, it takes serious game to keep a foothold on the PGA Tour for 16 seasons, but if Goydos can hang on to his one-shot lead, he'd stand as one of the biggest upset winners in event history.

Only Craig Perks, ranked outside the top 200 in the world when he won at Sawgrass in 2002, would stand lower on the global pecking order of past winners than Goydos, who entered the week at No. 169 in the rankings as he took on the deepest field in golf.

In a refreshing change, instead of hiding from his relative obscurity, modest accomplishments and lack of endorsement firepower, he's embracing it, turning his post-round interviews into riffing comedic exchanges. It might be sheer survival instinct, or it might be true, but Goydos has rocked the house after every round whatever the case.

He hasn't done so poorly on the course, either.

After he signed for a 2-under 70 on Saturday, he began reeling off the self-effacing answers as fast as they could be written down. He's been busting out one-liners for most of his career, but this time, he has an actual audience. A global one, at that.

He was asked if he had ever before held the lead heading into the final round and without missing a beat, said, "No, but I've only been on tour for 16 years."

One of the most unassuming figures on tour as far as physique, it was noted that with temperatures at 90 degrees, the top button on his shirt was still fastened shut.